The Amazon Kindle Fire line is due for a refresh and Amazon has given the Kindle Fire HD an upgrade to a new Snapdragon 800 2.2 GHz quad-core processor, an HD display, and an updated version of its Android-based Fire OS software. Here's the new Kindle Fire HDX.

The third-gen Kindle Fire has two screen sizes: a 7-inch display with 323 ppi and an 8.9-inch display with 339 ppi. Both models have a display designed to reduce glare and have strong brightness in any lighting conditions. The increased brightness shouldn't have too mch on an impact on battery life because Amazon estimates that the Kindle Fire HDX has 11 hours of battery, but it may go as high as 17 hours if used only for reading.

Amazon always focused on its devices' software rather than their computing power, but the company's latest tablet touts both. In addition to an upgrade in graphical and processing power, Amazon today announced a new Fire OS 3.0 "Mojito" to power the Fire HDX. Among the new features in Mojito are faster archiving to the cloud to free up space, better parental controls with Kindle FreeTime, improved sharing to social network options, Goodreads integration, and a Second Screen feature that can fling playback from a tablet to a television. Amazon also debuted its Mayday Button that can be pressed to bring up live tech support that includes a person guiding the user through the activity and even drawing on-screen to illustrate exactly what should be done.

Amazon will sell the Kindle Fire HDX (7-inch) beginning October 18 for $229. A 4G LTE version compatible with AT&T or Verizon ill be available November 14 for $329. The 8.9-inch model, which ships December 10, will retail for $379 for Wi-Fi only or $479 for LTE.